Castle walls
by Lil DragonLex
Summary: At first, it was only supposed a visit. But then she kept going back. Soon it became easier to go there and harder to leave. And in the end, she found herself binding to someone that was never thought possible. HieixBotan
1. before one

Summary – At first, it was only supposed a visit. A hi, how are you, and then leave. But then she kept going back. Soon it became easier to go and harder to leave. And in the end, she found binding herself to someone that was never thought possible.

Before one

It started out with just an errand. An errand in Makai. Botan was to go Makai and pick up a package from a demon whose loyalties lied with Koenma. It was supposed to be a gift of some sorts. Why didn't Koenma just have a portal get the demon to Renkai? Botan didn't know.

All she was told was that she was supposed to go into Renkai and retrieve a package from this demon, who apparently was very old. At least 2000 years old. So Botan shrugged the unusualness of this request and started to complain more about her safety in being in Renkai. Koenma assured his best ferry girl that she would be fine because she was suppose to do this and that she wouldn't be hurt. This puzzled Botan even more, but again she shrugged it off.

So Botan flew for a couple of minutes in Makai looking for this aged demon. She hadn't been there long and surprisingly, she didn't run across any demons. She looked down from her oar and only saw dark, black trees that survived its entire life without the nurturing rays of sunlight, deformed lands that saw too much battle on its surface, and patches of dried blood that dotted grass and rocks. Makai was and always will be indeed a depressing place. Only fit for those who had a strong fighting spirit. Botan briefly wondered if she could ever survive in a place like this.

Her musings didn't last for very long because something else caught her attention. It wasn't the old demon that she was supposed to look, but a castle. It was the medieval type of castle that many ningens favored; only it had a black color, was much bigger and had many more towers than the average big ningen castle. It looked like it could hold a town in it and still have room for a village. Botan thought back to where she had seen this castle before, for the recognition of the castle would not leave her alone.

After a moment, her eyes lit up in wonder as she thought about a small fire demon. It was his castle. His home that he had been living in for the past couple of years. She remembered a picture of it before in a much smaller scale from Koenma's computer. She stopped moving her oar and hovered in the air watching the castle. Even at a distance, it had a compelling look that challenged the surroundings to defy it.

Inch by inch, Botan moved closer to the castle. It drew her to it. Its features seduced her to come closer. To be within its tall, strong walls. It called out to her. But it wasn't so much of the castle that made her to continue moving to it. It was more of the demon that ruled over the castle. She felt an urge growing inside of her to see him. After all, it had been years since she last spoke with him. Since she heard him call her baka onna.

But Botan blinked and shook her head. It wouldn't be right to just go and abandon the old demon before she even met up with him. Reluctantly, she turned her oar from the direction of the castle and continued on her way.

Minutes later, Botan found an old demon sitting on a large rock. Waiting. It must be him. He was the only one there. Plus, she didn't see any other demons since entering Makai.

"I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting," Botan apologized as she landed and got off her oar. The castle was still in view. Botan put her back to it to avoid staring at it. "My name is-"

"Botan. I know," the demon smiled kindly at her. He had dark brown skin with some wrinkles on his face that came from weariness. He stood with a slump and had slivery white hair that was tied in a low ponytail that reached his mid-back. Botan was reminded of a grandfather that she never knew nor met.

"Did Koenma-sama tell you me name?" she asked confused.

"No."

Botan looked at him, puzzled. She wasn't scared that an old demon whom she never met in her life or after, knew her. The thought never crossed her mind to be scared. The demon's mere presence around her was kind. The only thought in her mind was how the aged demon knew her name. Almost as if he knew her.

"Then how did you know my name?"

His eyes twinkled as if he was about to tell a special answer to a favorite granddaughter. "Let's just say it's my specialty."

Botan was still confused.

"But I believe that you came here to retrieve something for your Koenma-sama?"

Botan nodded.

The demon lifted a package that was wrapped in brown paper that saw many, many years and handed it to her. "Give this to your Koenma-sama."

Taking the package hesitantly, Botan nodded again, still unsure what to make of the demon. As she sat down on her oar again and took some altitude, the demon called out to her.

"A visit is always nice. It shows the person that you still care."

Botan flew off, not sure if she was more confused about the demon himself or his words. As the castle became smaller in view, Botan realized that she never asked the demon for his name. She'll just have to ask Koenma. But there was one thing that she was sure she wasn't confused about. When he meant "a visit," he didn't mean a visit to him once more. She was sure, but didn't know how, that he meant a visit to the person who lived within the castle walls.


	2. one

AN: I meant to update this fic sooner, but I got busy with Christmas stuff and family stuff. On the bright side, I got this new fic in the works. I'm really excited about it.

As always, thank you for your reviews and Merry Christmas to you all!

I've always loved flying. Even before I died, I always knew that flying was just for me. And even though machines such as airplanes didn't exist in my time, the birds gave me the imagination. I knew that one day I would soar through the air with the wind in my hair. Though people whom I told that I wanted to fly called me crazy, but I didn't care. I wanted to fly.

What I didn't know was that I would have my wish come true when I died. But I still loved it all the same. Making my beloved oar that gave me such a wonderful gift of flight disappear, I walked into the Renkai Castle and released my human body. I preferred to roam around in what I really was. A ferry girl. A spirit. Dead.

Each step I took, I was reminded again about that castle; its dark daring walls, the huge vastness of it, and also the person who lived inside it. It was so much different than Koenma's castle. Koenma's castle was brighter and happier. Hiei's castle was more morbid and was constant reminder that someone powerful lived in it. Someone not to be taken lightly. But the attraction that I had for that castle was there all the same.

Bumping into a fellow ferry girl, I mumbled an apology. She smiled back, letting me know that it was okay. But I saw it in her eyes. The jealousy. She hided it well, but I still saw a flicker of it in her eye. The same flicker that became all too familiar to me. After she walked off, I sighed. Squeezing the package in my arms, I remembered that I still had to give Koenma his package, so I continued walking.

"Koenma-sama?" I asked as I finally got to his office.

"Ah, Botan. Did you get it?" he beckoned for me to come up to his desk.

"Hai," I smiled brightly, and then it switched into confusion. "But you didn't tell me that he would know my name."

"He knew your name?" Koenma asked as if he didn't know. But he knew. I could tell. Being his best friend for hundreds of years gave me the sense that he was hiding something from me.

"He did. Who is he?" I brought my face a close to his, telling him that he couldn't get himself out of this one. I was going to get some answers.

"An old friend," Koenma lightly answered, unfazed by our short distance of heads.

"That doesn't tell me who he is," I pointed out and whined at the same time. He was avoiding this. But why?

Koenma moved his lips upward as if he was thinking. "You're right. It doesn't. But you'll find out soon enough."

"But Koenma!" I brought my head away from his to properly whine.

"Now, now Botan. It's a surprise," Koenma smiled cockily.

I narrowed my eyes. "And what is it about him that makes it a surprise?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, ne?" that same cocky smile was on his lips.

"Please. Can I know? Pretty please?" I made my eyes huge a watery and my voice small and childish. The puppy face. No one could resist that.

But Koenma just did something that few people could do. He resisted it! It was like he was actually immune to my puppy face. He just put on the smile of a father who had eternal patience with a child. "Sorry Botan. Not this time. I promised not to. But I'll tell you, what. Leave that package here and I'll give you the rest of the day off."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Who could that demon possibly be that Koenma wouldn't tell me? His best ferry girl?! And what surprise was he planning? How important was that surprise that it made he seem a little not like himself? Was he in league with that demon? What were they planning? What did it have to do with me? Why do I feel as if I was in the middle of this? And how on all the heavens above could that demon know my name?

I pouted. But I did what he asked. As I closed the door to his office and bid farewell to George, I knew that this wasn't good. I had another free time. I had more free time. And it was better to not say anything to the other ferry girls. Jealousy was something that kept people arms length from you. It's what kept people talking about you behind your back. And I was the envy of 90 percent of all the ferry girls in Renkai. I had something that few ferry girls could have.

I had a human body. I had a human body that I could use at my own disposal. Almost any time I wanted. I could literally _be _alive again. I could talk with the living and not just the dead whenever I go to the human world. I had a second chance of life without being reborn. And could do what most of the living took for granted and what many ferry girls desired. I could eat, smell something foul or sweet, touch, and much more. Although I still couldn't see my own reflection, it was still something.

And it didn't stop there. I could have _lived _in the Ningen world. I could have had an apartment that Koenma would pay for me and I could visit Yusuke, Keiko, and all the others when ever I wanted to. And I did have that apartment. But I only had it for less than a month. I started to hear the whispers of jealousy from down the halls. How I got to, in a sense, "live" again and no one else could. How I had a life. A real life. To be human again.

And they couldn't. I've heard them all whisper about it, the unfairness of it. If I could "live" again, why couldn't they? Life was supposed to be unfair while death was. Life threw everything at you. It could be all at once or one by one. It hurls you into each and every direction nonstop, until you feel worn out and exhausted. It puts a person in a disadvantage by not preparing the person first. It stretches the living until they feel numb. Until they do all they could do and than more. It truly was unfair. But death wasn't.

Because no matter how cruel death may seem, or how horrible, death was always fair. It takes everybody. Black, white, yellow, purple skinned; tall, short; and young and old. Death even takes babies that were yet to be born. It is the ultimate fairness. It was the living that made death seemed like a nasty plague that needed to be overcome. Like they could cheat death because they were too young, too old, or too pure. Or death was a great evil because it took the life from living. People fear death more than they feared life. But death was fair; it listens to no one but itself.

And that's what a ferry girl's job is. Death. It was more than just to guide lost souls. We were a big part of death, and we had to be fair as well. So what made me so special? What gave me the right, the _privilege _to _live _again without being reborn? I don't know. And I doubt that Koenma would tell me either. But I knew that it was more than just being Yusuke's assistant because he was no longer a spirit detective.

I sighed as I wondered the empty halls. There was nothing for me to do. I didn't feel like going to the Ningen world and visit my friends there. I didn't have any work to do since Koenma gave the rest of the standard Renkai day off. I basically had nothing to do.

It wasn't long before my mind went back to that castle. Its dark appearance and the way the shadows engulfed it, yet welcomed it at the same time. It wouldn't leave my mind. I imagined what it would look like inside. Dark furniture, a fire place, maybe some paintings of the pervious lords of the castle. Maybe there'd be a painting of Hiei too.

But I'll never know until I go there. I could just hop on my oar and fly there. I remembered the way. I had plenty of time. Visiting Hiei would be nice. It's been so long sine I last saw him. Then I shook my head. What was I thinking? He'd probably kick me out even if I'd did try. So I forced the thought of visiting Hiei to the back of my head and went to enjoy myself in one of the resting places in Renkai.

For about week and a half, thoughts of the castle invaded my mind. I toyed with the idea Hiei welcoming me and we'd chat for a long time about the years that we've been apart. It was what? Almost five years since the team broke up, since Yukina permanently moved into Genkai's temple, since Hiei left. Wow. I can't get thought of Hiei out of my head. It's been over a week and he's still stuck in my brain.

That's it! I'm going to visit him. With determination, I veered off to another direction. Unfortunately, I forgot that I was working, so I almost lost a soul. Opps. Hehe.

"Goman-nisan," I said to the poor soul that nearly fell off my oar. I bowed my head to him.

"Fine. It's just fine." He sure was taking it well. Being dead and all, and nearly winding up and become a wandering soul for who knows how long. Though he does look pretty scared. I continued back to Renkai, this time at a slower pace and keeping a close eye on my charge.

When I finally got to Renkai, I dropped off my soul, and immediately went to see Koenma.

"Koenma-sama!" I yelled as I threw open the doors and practically flew inside.

"Hai?" Koenma answered from his large stack of papers. Really, sometimes it seemed as if he never did any of his work.

"Koenma, I want to take some time off," I said quickly. I admit that I was afraid that he might say no. But then again, he has been giving me time off a lot recently. I just hope that he'd say yes to this once when I actually ask for it.

"What for?" he raised an eye suspiciously.

I blushed a bit. "I… well I…."

"Yes?"

"Well you see…"

"No, I don't see. Please explain." He was toying with me!

"I want to visit Hiei!" I blurted out. My cheeks red in embarrassment. He was going to make fun of me. I just know it! For all the years that we've known Hiei, he never seemed to like me. Now I want to visit him after years of no contact? It was a perfect opportunity for teasing.

"Sure. You have my blessings," Koenma said causally.

"W-What?" I said baffled.

"You may go see Hiei," Koenma said with a smile on his face that I couldn't distinguish.

"Um… Thank you?" I said weakly and still confused.

"You're welcome," Koenma said with that smile still on his face. He also had a twinkle in his eyes! What's going on here?!

But I walked out of the office slowly. It seemed like Koenma _wanted _me to go visit Hiei. In fact, all those time offs, that smile, the twinkle… did Koenma really want me to visit Hiei that badly? I shook my head in confusion. I'll think about it at another time. Now all I want to do is visit Hiei.

I made my oar appear and flew away to Makai. I flew a little slower than usual. I was enjoying being in the air. This time, I saw a few demons around the place, but none of them even bothered to look twice at me. They acted like it was an everyday thing for a ferry girl of Renkai to fly around Makai by herself. Weird. There are just too many strange things happening today. But I brushed it off. Why worry about something when I know that I'm not going to get the answers right away?

There it was. The castle. It still had that daring presence that challenged its surrounding areas. I saw light glowing bright through some of the windows. But I didn't see any demon guards guarding the castle. Then again, who needed guards when the very feel of the place was enough to make anyone think twice about invading it?

Including me.

I shook my head furiously. No! I was bothered with thoughts of this very castle and I will not turn back around just because Hiei's youkai was so strong that I could almost smell it. And besides, I wouldn't want to upset Koenma or the old demon. So with renewed determination, I sped off to the castle doors.

Once I got there, I made my beloved oar disappear and knocked hard on the huge, massive doors. Really! These doors are way too big. Then again, some demons were big enough to dwarf some complex human buildings. Especially S class demons. And with Hiei being such a higher ranking demon now, he would have to deal with big demons. And help ningens. How ironic is that?

I waited for a couple of seconds. Nothing. I pounded the door harder and waited for about a minute. Still nothing. I pounded the door again. Waited for about three minutes and still came up with nothing. What was wrong with these demons?! Surely they could hear someone pounding on the door with their acute hearing?! And if they can't hear my pounding on this door, can't they smell me? What happened to all that "demons' scent of smell was so power that they could smell emotions?!"

That's it. Time for drastic measures. I summoned my bat and brought it back and hit the door hard. The door made a loud bang and I felt the vibration through my bat. If they hadn't heard that, than nothing will.

As I swung my bat again to give the door another strike, it flew open.

"Um… konichiwa!" I tired to sound cheerful even though I was caught in the middle of swinging my bat at the door.

"Hello," the female demon smiled. It looked cheerful. That made me a little nervous. "We've been expecting you. Though you did come a little later than we expected. But come in! Come in!"

"Expecting me?" I said mystified and just as the demon grabbed me by the arm and pulled me inside.

We went at a fast pace. I didn't even get the chance to get a proper look of the inside of the castle. I just caught glimpses of dark and bright corridors, closed big doors, and maybe a sword or two hung on the walls. When I didn't seem to be walking fast enough, the female demon scoped me into her arms and half ran the rest of the way.

"What are you doing?" I asked as we turned into another hall.

"Carrying you. No offence, but you aren't all that fast," she said.

She was very straight to the point. I wondered if Hiei ever got mad at her. Then, looking over her shoulder, I noticed that she had a long, dark green, fluffily tail. Before I could ask which demon she was, we stopped in front of an open door room and went inside. The demon put me down gently and stared at me. And kept staring at me. Okay. So I was really nervous now.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

She snapped her eyes back me and smiled again. "How rude of me. I'm Fusae. I'm a dog demon of the Red River dog clan."

"Red River dog clan? That's one of the oldest dog demon clans to ever exist," my eyes were wide in amazement and wonder.

"Yes, that's right," her eyes lit up from my praise.

"I'm Botan. Top ferry girl of Renkai," I bowed to her as traditional Japanese introductory custom dictates.

"Top ferry girl of Renkai? You must be really high up there. ne?" Fusae said slyly.

"Well, I'm not really that high up there," a light blush formed on my cheeks.

Fusae shook her head and closed her eyes to disagree with me. Approval was in her eyes when she opened them. Approval for what? Did I past some kind of test? Somehow I thought that I did. But a test for what? So many mysteries. So many questions that are popping into my mind. I think that my head might start spinning.

"So, how did you-"

"You must be here to visit Hiei-san!" Fusae announced, intercepting my question.

"Well yes."

"Then I'll go get him," and with that Fusae walked out of the room, leaving me alone.

So there I was. Inside the castle. Alone in a room, waiting for Hiei. What am I going to say to him? I had no real reason for visiting him. What was I thinking when I decided to visit him?


	3. Importan note

Okay, so here's an important note. I've decided to put this fic on hold. Some of you might be sad and wondering why. Believe me when I say this, so have I. I've been thinking about it for a while now. The reasons that I've come up with are the following:

1. I want to concentrate on Courtship Dance.

2. I didn't like the way the story was going in my head. I didn't like the way it was going when I wrote it down either.

3. I started planning the story during the summer. Yeah, long time ago, I know. I didn't have the motivation to do it then. And now I've lost that motivation to do it now.

4. I've no inspiration.

5. School is starting up again, so I'm going to be busy studying. I'm not really a smart person. And I need to keep my grades up. Especially since I'm going to be graduating in one more year. I'm a junior in high school. I've got SATs to prep for and HSPA.

6. It was turning out to be more than 3 chapters.

Originally, this story was only supposed to be three long chapters. But I started typing it down, it turned out to be a lot more than three chapters because I kept stopping at certain points and made it to a whole chapter. I'm going to try and go back to the three chapter plan. I want to rewrite chapter two and edit some of chapter one. This whole thing is going to take I while. So please be patient. But never fear, for I will work on it even if I lose the inspiration to do so. Again.

I'm not sure if I'm going to take out the story completely and repost it again later, or if I'll just leave it here until I have the three chapters done. So if you really like it, you might want to read it over again before I decide to take it down. If I don't take it down in two weeks time, I'll just leave it here until the newer version is up.

But here's the good news. My internet is working properly again. So that means that I got to send my finished work to my beta and have her (are you a her?? I forget) look over it and edit it so that it would be better than ever. And, since I can't post an author's note as a chapter, you guys get to see what's ahead in Castle walls. Lucky you. It's not a preview in the next chapter, but a little something for what's going or what I'm planning to happen. So enjoy.

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He punched his fist at the wall. Chucks of rock flew out, creating a large hole within the two feet width of stone on the wall. Sparks of energy cracked on the ground and on the walls. The air grew thicker with the feeling of dread. A black mist swirled around his body. An illusion of a black dragon formed from the mist.

"What… What did you say?" he asked in controlled angry.

"I… I just meant…" she started. She couldn't finish. She was too scared.

"You meant what!" he bellowed, turning around quickly to face her. His eyes blazed with anger and fury. Flames ignited out of nowhere and swallowed up the high ceiling.

Botan hastily took several steps back. Terrified of what was going to happen to her. "I-I… I don't know," she chocked out.

Hiei shut his eyes. His bandana came off of his head, revealing his Jagan eye. It was open. Botan's heart stopped beating. Her face paled. Her body shook with panic and fear.

"Hiei," she managed to say.

"Get out." Hiei's skin turned green. Outlines of eyes closed appeared all over his body.

"N-Nani?" Botan said. It sounded small and frail to her ears.

"I SAID GET OUT!" Hiei roared. All of the eyes came opened. All of them flashing with rage at her.

Botan flew out of the room and out of the castle.

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"Check," Sascha said.

Koenma moved his king. Sascha moved his bishop.

"Check."

Koenma moved his queen and took away the bishop that threatened his king. Sascha replaced Koenma's queen with his castle.

"Check again," Sascha smiled.

Koenma growled. "Are you sure that Botan is the right person?" he asked, trying to divert Sascha's attention away from the game.

"Positive." It didn't work.

They made another few moves.

Koenma lined the last of his pieces to defend his king. "I'm not sure if she's strong enough to handle him."

"Come now Koenma, don't you have faith in your ferry girl?"

"I have faith in her. I just don't trust _him _to take care of her. He never seemed to like her. And now I'm just handing her over to him just like that. All because you said that…" Koenma grumbled the last part so low that Sascha wasn't able to hear him. If he had been a human. So he did hear Koenma.

Sascha picked up his queen and looked carefully at it. "In almost all cultures, the male is considered the strong one. The one who expected to protect his wife or lover and family. And yet, in chess, a most popular game in Ningenkai, the queen is the one who protects the king. The queen is the one with the most power."

"But if the king is eaten, then the game ends," Koenma pointed out. "No king means game over."

"That is true. But, without the queen, the game is half lost. And chances of wining the game without the queen are slim. The queen is the one with real power. She goes and does what she pleases."

"I hate it when you get all philosophical on me," Koenma grumbled again.

Sascha laughed. "It's part of my job description." Then he put his queen down and said, "Check mate."

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"The chicken came first!" Yusuke yelled.

"No, the egg!" Kuwabara yelled back.

"The chicken!"

"The egg!"

"Chicken!"

"EGG!"

"CHICKEN!"

"EGG!"

"I'm telling you that the CHICKEN came first!" Yusuke's face turned red.

"And I'm telling you that the EGG came first!" Kuwabara yelled right back at Yusuke.

"Then what happened to the chicken if the egg was first?!"

"It got run over by a car when it tried to cross the road."


End file.
